Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: July 12, 2023 by Crystal Uys

The_Big_New_Yorker_Book_of_Cats

I absolutely adore The Big New Yorker Book of Cats. Aside from the from that fact that it combines two of my great loves, cats, and New York City, into one beautiful book, it’s everything a special cat book should be.

This beautifully illustrated collection is a celebration of cats. The book features articles, poems and humor pieces by such literary luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Roald Dahl, Robert Graves, Ted Hughes, Jamaica Kincaid, Jean Rhys, James Thurber, John Updike, Sylvia Townsend Warner, E. B. White, and many, many more. And of course, it also contains plenty of the New Yorker’s signature cartoons and drawings.

My absolute favorite part are the full color renditions of past New Yorker covers featuring cats, like the one below, which I am now looking to find as an art print, I love it that much.

The_New_Yorker_cover

The book is divided into four sections – Fat cats, Alley cats, Cat Fanciers, and Curious Cats. The cats in the stories range from bookstore cats to a cat who received a kidney transplant to stray cats. This is not a book you read from cover to cover, each piece needs to be savored, and, given the pedigree of the contributors, you know you’re in for a treat.

This gorgeous book has earned a permanent spot on my coffee table. It is an absolute joy to read and browse through, and I know it will bring me hours and hours of pleasure for years to come. And it makes a purr-fect gift for the special cat lovers in your life.

About the author

87 Comments on The Big New Yorker Book of Cats (2023 Review)

  3. My mother loved to read The New Yorker. It was a fixture in our household until she passed away when I was 10. Now, I have four cats & volunteer at a no-cage, no-kill cat shelter. It just seems to fit.

    Reply

  10. Oh Yes! This is THE Best! I love everything New Yorker…books & magazine. And I so miss “my” NYC living. Sigh~ Thank you Ingrid for the chance to win this beautiful gift.

    Reply

  11. My cats enjoy curling up to a good book, especially while I’m trying to read it. They’d absolutely love this one. And so would their human.

    Reply

  12. I know that my human will put this one on her list to Santa! The cover you featured is really pawsome, especially the colors and of course, the cat and NYC!

    Reply

  16. Everything about this book screams ME!
    I love books, art, poetry, & of course CATS. I have 7 cats of my own.
    This book encompasses everything I love.

    Reply

  17. I adore The New Yorker Book of Cats, it’s such fun to flip through and to read. Thank you very much for this giveaway.

    I love that some of my favorite authors contribute wonderful anecdotes, poems etc. about cats. The book is a wonderful celebration of cats which is the best part of it. I love the cover you included in your post. I hope you can find it life size to frame. The covers are a favorite feature of mine.

    I could list many more reasons why I’d love to win this book but I’d be here all day…neither one of us needs that!

    Thank you!
    Aimala127 (AT) gmail (DOT) com

    Reply

  22. I would love to win this. I have been a fan of the New Yorker cartoons since I was little. And I love the cats. Thank-you for the opportunity to win this.

    Reply

  29. I would love to win this book! Having our cat choose us has changed both my hubby and me, neither of us had a cat in the house before (I had farm cats years ago), and the depths of the love we feel for him is amazing!

    Reply

  30. I would love to have the book because it has my little Thom Thom on the cover–he passed away in July of this year.

    Reply

  33. This is beautiful! Ingrid, you can buy the prints if you go to the condenaststore.com! They have a beautiful black cat picture but I was hoping they have a tortie cover as well 🙂

    Reply

  34. Oh my god! I was just drooling over this book at Books-A-Million the other day but when I looked at the price I had to put it back down since it was way out of my budget range.

    I would so love to have this book.

    Reply

  37. I would love to win this book, I just saw it for sale on BN.com! I love to collect and read cat books particularly fine art and drawings of cats! I have a couple of New Yorker postcards which feature cats, they are so funny I had to frame them instead of mailing them out lol. I’d love to see the ones I’ve never seen before in this book! :))

    Reply

  39. Having just been adopted by a couple of feral kitties, I think this would be a wonderful prize that I could read to them. Please enter me in this contest. Thank you for this opportunity.

    Reply

  40. The combination of New York and it’s wide spectrum of cats featured would make this book a welcome addition to my home.

    Reply

  41. How apropos! I leave tomorrow morning for a fun weekend in New York! It would be a treat to win this book after having just spent the weekend there!!!

    Reply

  42. I sooooooooooooooooooooooooo want this book!!! Ok here is why, my parents were both from Brooklyn, I was born on Long Island and in the past week I will have taken TWO trips to New York (in one week!) and am in LOVE with the city AND cats!!!!
    The only reason I am not sharing is because I don’t want anyone else to enter so I can win 🙂
    I am sooooooooo greedy! lol!
    xoxo

    Reply

  45. This is great. I looked through it online. I’m a fan of many of the contributors. I have NY ties to family and of course cats through my own and years of rescue work. I’d love to read this book and then I would donate to a cat group to be part of a fundraiser.

    Reply

  47. What a great idea! A book about cats in New York, world-famous covers featuring cats from the New Yorker magazine and to boot, articles written about NY cats by award-winning authors from the New Yorker! Triple treat for all cat lovers and especially those who love New York! I would love to win this book!

    Reply

  52. I’m just going to say how much I’d love to have this book in my studio–and thanks for bringing it to my attention!

    Reply

  56. Id love to win this book! I grew up in NY and have always been a cat person. I’ve never gone without a cat my entire life!

    Reply

  58. You know me….I love anything cat. I would love this book and like you Ingrid, I’ve fallen in love with the past New Yorker cover you’ve featured…and of course the cat is an orange tabby♥
    Another great giveaway!

    Reply

  59. I’ve instilled an appreciation for the literary in my Citrus. He is now a bit snobby, reading the Wall St. Journal and Catmopolitan mostly. The Big New Yorker Book of Cats has been on the top of his Christmas list since he first saw it advertised. =^..^=

    Reply

  60. This book combines two of my great loves, as well, cats, and reading! This would be a perfect centerpiece on my coffee table, too! Thank you so much for the great giveaway!

    Reply

  63. I am a New York City native and a cat lover. I developed a love for cats growing up in New York City where most apartment buildings did not allow dogs and many friends and neighbors had cats. My parents allowed us to adopt a kitten from a shelter but then wanted us to give him back. My broken heart didn’t heal until I was finally able to adopt a cat as an adult. I have been away from NYC for 24 years and am about to move back, taking my two cats with me. The New Yorker magazine is iconic for my favorite city and I would love to have this book for my new living space, symbolic of two great loves. I started not to enter this contest because I feel like I never win anything, but got so carried away with this response that I just burned up my breakfast! Thanks for the opportunity.

    Reply

  64. I am a New York City native and a cat lover. I grew to love cats growing up in New York City because most apartment buildings did not allow dogs and many friends and neighbors had cats. My parents allowed us to adopt a kitten from a shelter but then wanted us to give him back. My broken heart didn’t heal until I was finally able to adopt a cat as an adult. I have been away from NYC for 24 years and am about to move back, taking my two cats with me. The New Yorker magazine is iconic for my favorite city and I would love to have this book for my new living space.

    Reply

  65. I would love to win this book as an ex-New Yorker and in honour of the senior kitty I just adopted on Veteran’s day….it would make a nice welcome home gift (for me!). We would read it together, as like any cat I’ve ever had, a book or paper or magazine is a favorite of any cat! Love the New Yorker!!

    Reply

  68. I would love to win this book because I love, love, love cats! And I love reading their stories. 🙂

    Reply

  69. Selfishly, I’d love to have this book to adorn my coffee table, where one of my dozen foster charges would probably lie on it…Unselfishly, if I could win this book I would donate it to Little Orphans Animal Rescue to raffle as a fund raiser. Like all shelters and rescues, LOAR is *always* needing more funds.

    Reply

  70. I would love to have this book because I live for cats and New York City is one place I would love to visit one day. I grew up in New York, but have left when I was young and never had a chance to go back to see the city.

    I shared on Pinterest

    Reply

  71. I would love to have this book because I live for cats and New York City is one place I would love to visit one day. I grew up in New York, but have left when I was young and never had a chance to go back to see the city.

    I shared on Twitter

    Reply

  72. I would love to have this book because I live for cats and New York City is one place I would love to visit one day. I grew up in New York, but have left when I was young and never had a chance to go back to see the city.

    I shared on Facebook

    Reply

  73. I would love to have this book because I live for cats and New York City is one place I would love to visit one day. I grew up in New York, but have left when I was young and never had a chance to go back to see the city.

    Reply

  76. I’ve been looking for a cat book to display on my coffee table and this one would definitely fit the bill. Great giveaway! =^. .^=

    Reply

  77. Would just love to own such a beautiful cat book. Would sit on my coffee table and my gorgeous Pia (cat) always manages to pose herself so beautifully on the same table and they would compliment each other

    Reply

  79. I too love New York City and cats. I would love to win this book to donate as a door prize at our cat rescue fund raiser.

    Reply

  80. As a rescue, I like having all sorts of resources and different types of cat books at
    my reach. Not only for reference and education, but for sheer enjoyment as well.
    I have used the New Yorker book of cartoons as a stepping stone to turn the
    “I don’t like cats, they are stupid and not fun, etc” people into “Hey these cats are
    cool”. If I had a cat like that I would adopt one!

    It also shows you can have great art work and elegance with a cat book like this.

    Reply

  81. It’s been a tough year. My beloved 13 yr old Vic died after 6 mos of overwhelming health issues. Little Lucy, my new companion for Lance , arrived with serious health and socialization issues. I love the New Yorker and would share the book with my friends in my retirement community.

    Reply

  82. I have been wanting this book ever since I first saw it advertized in the Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog. It was going to be a Christmas gift to myself, but I haven’t yet purchased it, so I would be ecstatic to win it! I have a library of cat books and this would definitely be the highlight of them all!

    Reply

  83. So excited about The Conscious Cat, which I found out about on my Zite app. This book contains MY two favorite things as well: NYC and cats. My parents are both from NY- their relatives are still there. Needless to say, NY has always felt like home; after childhood I choose NY as my own dream place of residence and I went to both college and medical school there.When I was younger I dreamt about veterinary school, and thought about having an exclusive feline practice. How perfect, and of course in NYC. Well, life turned out differently, but my love of animals ( especially cats-sorry, Spike ) endured. As a toddler we had an orange cat named”Pumpkin”; then came “Jagger” ( found by my neighbor, thin, weak and wandering around at a high school keg party). Then came Rose, Charivari, and Snagglepuss, an awesome orange Persian-I was hooked, never having met such a lovey cat before. Soon after came along ” Kool”, who I adopted in Whitestone,NY-he was very intelligent and made the flight across the country when I moved to California. After a few cats rescued for adoption came Hollywood, another love-bug of an orange Persian, from LA, of course. He was my special buddy for 13 years, and I was devastated when he passed away. By chance at the vets office where I was taking Moses, a big goofy chocolate lab, sitting across from me was a tiny orange Persian kitten, fearless of the other waiting patients. Destiny! I told the owners my story and inquired where she got the little guy. ” Sebastopol, and he has a brother!” The following day my husband, son and I were on Highway 12, a short 20 minutes away from “Tuleberg” kennel, the name signifying “Persian cat” (loosely) in German, I had no reason to disbelieve her, anyway. Walking into a large room I was instantly surrounded by Persian kittens. I loved them all! How could one ever choose? After meeting the father who was at least as large as your average beagle and the, Mom, a tortoise-shell beauty who was talking a mile a minute. Finally I was presented ” the Brother”. As I softly held him he scratched and clawed me until he could slink away to his corner. Certainly that was NOT my cat. As I gently approached Bro #2, I could hear him purring before any physical contact had taken place! What a loving cat whose purr increased when held, accompanied with a bodily shiver not unlike a runaway train running through his little fluffy body. He came home with us that day, christened with the moniker Leonardo AKA Leo ( the lion). That was four years ago. He’s turned out to be very intelligent. He loves playing Hide and Seek, he loves his toys, and he especially loves all the house windows looking out to surrounding oaks, just filled with all kinds of birds. It sounds like Busch Gardens in the mornings. Anyway, I’m excited to join The Conscious Cat and would very much love to enter the Publisher’s giveaway drawing for the “Big NewYorker Book of Cats”. This book sounds like a great amalgam of two of my favorite things: Cats and NewYork. I would be overjoyed to receive a copy! My sister has two cats, Bernie and Casper-I e-mailed her this link as well.

    Reply

  84. Wow, this book looks fabulous. I’d love to add it to my library but I’d also share it with my cat-loving mom and sisters!

    Reply

  86. Confession: sometimes I read the New Yorker just for the cartoons and drawings. If I won this book, I’d actually read the whole thing!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *